LCD help needed

[stretch0069]

Ok my friends....and you too TC.

(sorry...couldn't help myself )

I'm in need of a new monitor. The 17" CRT I have will not work with my KVM. Don't know why, but my other 17" CRT does. Oh well. Anyway..I'm looking at getting a 19" LCD. What do y'all think of this?

I have no experience looking at LCDs and I'm wondering what to look for. I want a good (no smaller than) 19" LCD, but I don't want to spend a shit-ton of money. I'm looking in the neighborhood of about $400. I have to keep it low because I'm planning a Memphis in May trip that will set me back about a grand. Yeah...I'm gonna get real f'd up on Beale Street.

Hopefully, I'll even




Anyway....whats y'alls opinions?

[stretch0069]

[Topcat]

I personally don't care for LCD's. the technology is still a few years from maturity.... I have a 24" Sony CRT (GDM-FW900), and LOVE it. It has dual inputs too It also works fine with a KVM, and will blow away the quality of any affordable LCD. Nothing better than a DVD playing in widescreen format, full screen!! If you insist on a flat panel though, that one doesn't look bad...

[willawake]

why buy an off brand?

personally i would recommend samsung. great colour reproduction without having to tweak it. the turning point was when i had a TFT and CRT side by side on the desk. the CRT looked so dull. speed is a major problem though and I really like PVA matrix panels because the colours and viewing angles are so good. unfortunately the speed is slower than a TN+

[stretch0069]

we just got lcd screens at work. they beat the hell out of the big heavy ass Sony CRTs we had. Granted...these are high quality. they are used for air traffic control. but the LCD screens are so much clearer and none of the curved straight line crap. a straight line on an LCD is really a straight line.

I have an ADI CRT at home that works fine with the KVM. I don't know why this ADI CRT won't. I'm just a bit stumped on that one.

I was just curious if there was anything I should be aware of if I go looking for LCDs this weekend.

thanks...

[willawake]

personally i find the lcd display stand at big shops to be confusing, they usually are playing some video on all the tfts. i usually read a lot of reviews first and then see it at the shop for final check. i usually narrow it down to brands i trust first.

it is important to check that the tft pivots backwards some degrees, some do not and depending on your desk height you might need it. If you have any intention to get a monitor arm in the future, check that the tft has this facility, some do not.

speakers internal to the monitor are pretty useless always. tv function could be a bonus but its not gonna be very good.

whether you want to have DVI or analog connection

the size of the panel you want. some of the larger panels do not have fast response.

the reflectiveness of the panel, some of the sonys have yucky high reflectivity screen covers which can reflect the lights in your room. same with the borders of the panel, sunlight behind can reflect on the border and be annoying.

most of all it is the picture. are the colours accurate? is the speed of the monitor good for you? if you intend to run the panel at non default resolution is the text acceptably crisp. is the panel lit uniformly all over or are there some dull areas (usually good to try a widescreen dvd and check the black borders).

and of most importance, what is the dead pixel warranty of the shop!!!! even one dead pixel which is in the middle 40% of the screen could make you quite unhappy. better to pay more and buy from a shop with a good returns policy.

[stretch0069]

Hey Willawake, thanks for the info. Some good points for me to ponder.

My main concern was the dead pixel issue. I talked with a guy that has been putting in these new LCD screens and he says that the odds of a pixel "going bad" is almost non-existant. Its pretty much a matter of whether or not it was dead from the factory and how many are dead and where they are.

I might take a drive past Best Buy today. They have a Samsung 19" for $450. If they have one, I'll make them take it out of the box and look for dead pixels right there. I hate having to make two trips.....especially with gas prices and my "friend of OPEC" I call my truck.

Me: "Yeah....its a good truck but it pulls to one side of the road"
Friend: "Which side?"
Me: "Which ever side the gas station is on"




Thanks again for the info.

[willawake]

i think you will be ok with the dead pixel issue. there is excess lcd production at the moment so chances of getting a good panel are high. sammy make their own panels as well.

cant go wrong with a sammy.

shudder to think how much you spend on gas

[stretch0069]

Well....gas here is about $2.11 a gallon. The truck holds 35 gallons. It gets about 10 mpg...if I drive like a proper human.

which I don't so I get about 8.

I'm sorry, but with a V10 under the hood and a smart ass in a Chevy or Ford pickup in the next lane...well....you get my point.